44th Session of the Conference of the Food and Agricultural Organization

I thank Dr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization, for kindly inviting me to deliver this year’s McDougall Memorial Lecture.

It is a profound honour for me to be with you.

I commend Dr. Qu for his remarkable leadership of the Food and Agriculture Organization.

Since assuming office, he has brought energy, innovation, and vision to global food governance.

Moreover, he has embraced a bold vision for the organization rooted in sustainability, science and solidarity.

His leadership finds its clearest expression in the Four Betters Initiative.   I wholeheartedly commend this initiative. BRAVO!

The Food and Agriculture Organization’s “Four Betters” provide us with a compass for:

• Better production, through innovation, equity, and efficiency in agriculture;
• Better nutrition, by enabling all people, especially the vulnerable, to access healthy diets;
• A better environment, where our food systems sustain and regenerate natural resources.
• And a better life, ensuring that rural development and inclusive growth leave no one behind. We should make them a part of our daily reality.

 

These Four Betters are not mere aspirations.

These Betters are interlinked objectives that reflect the economic, social and environmental pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals. 

In 1945, the world came together to chart a new course and build a system of collective security: the United Nations Organization.

The United Nations was born to save succeeding generations from the catastrophe of war. War exposes the brutality of some humans against other humans.

The seed of international cooperation planted on 26 June 1945 has grown into a United Nations system, whose branches now embrace every aspect of human life.

That includes the Food and Agriculture Organization, the first specialized agency of the United Nations.

Since its founding, the FAO has worked to raise nutrition and living standards for people in every region of the world.

Its mission remains as urgent as ever. That mission partly defines success in human societies.

Food security is integral to the three pillars of the United Nations’ work: peace and security, sustainable development, and human rights.

Throughout history, humanity has struggled against hunger, disease, and violence. We have not yet won those complex struggles.

In many regions, conflict disrupts access to food—and food insecurity, in turn, sows the seeds of unrest. 

Let us be clear: food insecurity is not merely a lack of food to eat. Food insecurity is a powerful driver of conflict, displacement, and instability.

Conversely, resilient food systems are engines of peace and prosperity. Food systems are of decisive significance.

That is why we must:

• Integrate food systems into national development and climate strategies.
• Mobilize innovative financing, especially for least developed countries and small island developing states.
• Ensure that women, youth, and Indigenous communities are at the center of decision-making.

 

And align public and private investment with the Four Betters.

Access to food lies at the heart of sustainable development.

Sustainable Development Goal 2 commits us to achieving zero hunger. We must make zero hunger a part of our human reality.

More than that, access to food is a universal human right. In fact, a human right of the highest order.

It is proclaimed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

It is reaffirmed in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 

And it is a human right that is endorsed clearly by the General Assembly of the United Nations. 

Most recently, in September 2024, Member States reaffirmed this right in the Pact for the Future—a blueprint to revitalize international Cooperation.

Realising the vision of the Pact for the Future requires renewed collective resolve to end hunger, food insecurity, and all forms of malnutrition.

Thanks to the efforts of Member States and the international community, there has been some progress.

In regions such as Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, hunger has declined.

More people can have access to food, and efforts to promote healthier diets have gained traction.

But hundreds of millions still lack reliable access to food. That is unfortunate.

Billions cannot afford a healthy, nutritious diet.

The slowdown in human development threatens to undo decades of hard-won gains.

We must not let this regression become permanent.

We must do better. We must act deliberately.

Let us act, together, with urgency and sustained political will.

To rise to this challenge, first we must understand that society is interconnected.

Piecemeal thinking will not be enough.

Agri-food systems form the world’s largest economic network.

They influence nearly every aspect of our lives.

Changing such a system requires coordinated decisions across governments and the private sector.

We must reduce harmful trade-offs and avoid unintended consequences for health, climate, and development.

Second, food security is not an abstraction.

It is a basic human necessity.

Only by putting people at the center of food systems can we hope to fulfil the promise of leaving no one behind.

Third, we must be problem oriented.

We need responses that address short, medium, and long-term needs by tackling the root causes of hunger.

That means sustained, predictable, and adequate resources to reach those most in need.

Fourth, we must be innovation driven.

Emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence—could expand access, raise yields, and improve resource management. 

The Global Digital Compact, adopted as part of the Pact for the Future, calls for a digital future that is inclusive, open, sustainable, fair, and secure.

Fifth, we must be forward-looking.

The Pact for the Future compels us to advance human well-being in the decades ahead. 

I urge all Member States, private sector partners, and civil society organisations to turn our commitments into collective action.

And to ensure that our collective action delivers results.

Let me be clear: none of our ambitions are possible without an enabling international environment.

That, in turn, requires a revitalized multilateralism—with the United Nations at its centre. 

The General Assembly has a vital role to play.

As the “parliament of humanity,” or “Parliament of man” it is our foremost platform for building consensus around food security and for sharing good practices and lessons learnt. 

The General Assembly already has tools in hand.

Each year, it adopts twin resolutions on food and agriculture.

It oversees more than twenty international observances—from pulses to plant health.

It steers intergovernmental processes that link nutrition, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods into a coherent global agenda.

We must build on this legacy and make it stronger.

Our planet produces enough food to feed all eight billion of us.

But only if we manage its resources sustainably.

The real question is: do we have the resolve to make that abundance accessible to all? 

Like the United Nations, the Food and Agriculture Organization celebrates its 80th anniversary this year.

Their creation, in the same historic year of 1945, reminds us that food is foundational. Food is vital. 

Let this McDougall Lecture renew our resolve.

Let it inspire us to:

• Expand partnerships across sectors and borders.
• Translate strategic frameworks into tangible impact.
• Measure success not just in yields or Gross Domestic Product, GDP but in human dignity restored. 

We must work together to honour Frank McDougall’s vision of a world where no child goes hungry.

Let us finish the work of transforming agri-food systems, from the plough to the dinner table.

Let us invest in the right to food, the right to dignity, and the right to thrive.

Let us advance the Four Betters—not as slogans, but as signposts on our shared journey.

Let us achieve zero hunger for everyone, everywhere.

Thank you.